1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device, and more particularly to a display device for an instrument panel to be mounted in an automotive vehicle. The present invention also relates to an instrument panel, a method for controlling the instrument panel, and an automotive vehicle including the instrument panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
An automotive vehicle includes a so-called instrument panel. The instrument panel displays information which is necessary for driving the automotive vehicle, e.g., velocity. Since the driver will be driving while taking into account constantly-changing information which is displayed on the instrument panel, it is preferable that the instrument panel be capable of performing display so as to enable good visual recognition.
As a technique for performing display with good visual recognition, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-47619 discloses a technique of performing three-dimensional display by using a pair of parabolic mirrors.
However, as shown in FIG. 10, the driver's field of view while he or she is checking the outside of the vehicle is different from the driver's field of view while he or she is checking the displayed content on the instrument panel. Therefore, the driver is compelled to look toward the outside of the vehicle or look at the instrument panel in an alternating manner. As a result, there is a problem in that, while the driver is looking at the instrument panel, not enough attention is being paid to the outside of the vehicle. This problem still exists even when an improvement in visual recognition is obtained by using the technique disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-47619.
For the above-described reason, a driver tends to refrain from looking at the displayed content on the instrument panel while driving a vehicle. Although the instrument panel is often provided with indicators for giving alarm indications concerning remaining fuel amount, oil leakage, etc., the driver is not likely to view the displayed content on the instrument panel very frequently, so that it is difficult to quickly convey to the driver any information for which an alarm needs to be given. In particular, it is often difficult to give an effective alarm concerning any physical parameter which varies over short periods of time, such as vehicle velocity. This problem is not solved by the technique described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-47619.